Pacific Whiting Harvest

The 1993 Pacific whiting harvest was controversial. The Department of Commerce rejected the Pacific Fishery Management Council's proposed allocation of the whiting harvest between the shoreside and at-sea processing sectors. The Council had proposed that up to 74 percent of the 1993 harvest be allocated to those fishing vessels delivering their catch to shoreside processors and that the rest be made available to vessels delivering their catch to at-sea processors. After much deliberation, Commerce--one day before the opening of the 1993 fishing season--approved an allocation of 30 percent to the shoreside sector and 70 percent to the at-sea sector. GAO concludes that the allocation decision for the 1993 Pacific whiting harvest was made in accordance with federal agency decision-making procedures and regulations. Commerce rejected the Council's recommendation because of inadequate support. The timing of the decision, which differed little from the timing of the 1992 decision, was the result of the considerable time that federal officials spent deliberating the Council's proposed shift in the 1993 allocation between the two processing centers.

GAO found that: (1) Commerce's allocation decision for the 1993 Pacific whiting harvest complied with federal decisionmaking procedures and fishery regulations; (2) the Secretary rejected the Council's allocation recommendation, which essentially reversed the actual 1992 allocation, due to inadequate support; (3) the Secretary allocated the 1993 Pacific whiting harvest to the two processing sectors in the same proportion as their 1992 shares; (4) the Secretary delayed its allocation decision until the day before the allocation's effective date because of the considerable deliberation of the Council's proposed major shift in the 1993 allocation between the two processing sectors; (5) only a few numbers of nonwhiting species were inadvertently caught during whiting harvest; and (6) the allocation decision for the Pacific whiting harvest for 1994 through 1996 proceeded more smoothly than the 1993 decision due to the involvement of the fishery sectors and their agreement with the Council's allocation recommendation which Commerce implemented.